What is the smallest size you cut?

I take wood down to 2" or so because I never know if I'm gonna get enough wood, every year is a mystery and I always get enough. But I never know going into it, so I don't waste anything. If I get more wood than I expected I use the small stuff for shoulder season and then some warmer winter days.

 

While I pretended to go hunting tonight, I decided to track down some big wood since the ash pics made me jealous. Not sure if pictures do this justice, but this is around 30 at the base and looks to be 24 around 60 to 70 ft up. My lacrosse boot is in the one pic for perspective. Hard maple by the way. B

 

Not sure where this belongs, but I have a question for the experienced cutters. I have three 36 inch beech trees to drop and buck in the next few weeks. Challenge is they all have dead limbs and rot up high, so I am pretty sure the inside is hollow or weak. All are relatively straight and balanced. My plan is to take a large angled notch, but not to deep and very low. I intend to back cut and wedge as you would with any tree. 36 inch bar, nice and slow. Question is aside from widow makers, any thoughts on what to watch for. Not s lot of hinge makes me nervous. Thanks guys.

 

Im not a pro timber faller, but have dropped a few dozen for firewood in my day. Escape routes, escape routs very important stuff. Plan what you will do if things go bad. And if those trees are rotten in the center you mite be better using a winch or come along to bring them down after the face cut, much more safe.

 

I like to have a helper on a hollow/trouble tree. I usually choose a brother in law. Hey if I'm going out I'm doing the world a favor and taking one of those jackasses with me!

Seriously though x 2 on the winch and comealong! It doesn't hurt to have extra insurance when dropping trouble trees. Also make a small bore cut to judge rot/hollowness. If its rot chips will show it. If hollow chains speed/engine revs will increase. You will at least know for sure then what you are dealing with.

 

My advice for dead trees is this (I assume I don't need to tell you to wear your PPE):
1. Plan to fell only in the direction of the lean. Dead trees are not ones you should be trying any fancy directional falling on.
2. Clear the area where the tree will fall. The problem with dead trees is they can snap back on themselves; hitting something else on the way down increases this likelihood.
3. Clear your escape paths. 45 degrees from the direction of the fall. You want a minimum of 15' with healthy trees; I like more room with dead trees, like an entire tree length!
4. Cut a 70 degree minimum open faced notch like you would for a healthy tree. Try for a hinge length of 80% of the DBH.
5. Slowly back cut from behind. You won't do a bore cut on dead trees to set the hinge. Instead, just back cut towards the notch, when it starts to move, GET OUT!
6. I try as much as possible not to use a wedge. Pounding on a dead tree can cause limbs to drop or weaken the tree to the point where it breaks in half.

Around here, OSHA prevents cutting down dead trees by hand. You are supposed to use a mechanized method of harvesting the tree, that's how dangerous it is. I have a lot of dead ash on my property and quite a few in our sugar bush where we are thinning and have had a couple of GOL training events. The instructor steers clear of any trees that are marked for thinning if they are near a dead tree. In fact, after the last class he told me he would come back and drop all the dead ones for me before the next class we have in March. I welcomed it. I've probably dropped over a hundred dead trees with no injuries and I still hate it. He has 30+ years of experience doing it for a living. Be careful out there....

 

Thank you for the detailed response. I will be "scouting" and laying this out this weekend. So I will snag some pictures while they are standing, assuming the weather holds. Luckily I believe all of these have a solid lean, so it should not be too bad. In any case I will document for the groups review. Thanks again!!

 

Sound advice! And my apologies if my reply came off as too cavalier.

The only thing I will add is always have a spotter on that tree. Team cut is the way to go. If that tree moves wrong drop your saw and vacate! We used to run into lots of dead elm clearing powerlines. I got smart and quit making money with a saw before EAB. Great btu's but I won't touch EAB now for firewood unless I have a buddy along.

X2 on always dropping standing dead in the direction of the lean if you can and pass on wedges, but do rope it.

If you cant fell the dead tree in the direction of the lean pass and let a pro handle it.

Its probably not osha approved, but we started making a small exploratory bore cut where the notch was to be located after my co worker had a standing dead leaner break while he was notching it. Just an added form of assesment. Nothing else at all to indicate this tree was 80% hollow and ready to kill. unfortunately this tree was leaning toward the lines so needed to come back against the lean. That was a bad day! Rope in the tree and spotter likely saved his life.

Wish we had had one of those fancy buckets on tracks back then. The man who invented that machine probably chit his pants in fright on a trouble tree in a deep right of way at one point in his life.

It's a good idea to work out a safe word or two with your buddy. Then practice using it!

For us FIRE meant drop your saw and proceed down your escape path at your earliest convenience a.k.a. run like your azz is on fire son!

 

So, just to get this back on topic, this is what I use to determine how small I cut. I use an old cordwood saw that is modified to run with a 10HP engine and is trailer mounted. I can handle 8' lengths on this for the most part and I usually cut to 2' lengths for my OWB. So when I drop a small tree I cut 8' lengths out of it until the small end gets to be around 2" or so. Same thing when I limb bigger trees; I figure 8' lengths out from where they attach to the trunk and go out until the small end will be around 2" or so. Here's the rig I use:

 

I will be taking all of the appropriate measures and will take some videos while felling. If unsure, I will walk away. I do appreciate the candid response. Wood is not worth my life, so I will make the right decision.

 

I'm up to my ash in ash so I no longer process the small stuff, under 2 and even 3 inches. And with all the dead ash trees I have left to cut, I'm not gonna live long enough to regret the waste.

 

I pretty much process the tree down to the twigs. Sometimes the pile of twigs gets thrown in the chipper, but other times I place it in a holder and cut it into 16" kindling. The holder, for lack off a better name, is made from old pallets. Note the pile of twigs at the end of the holder! Seems I posted a picture in some other thread sometime back, but here it is again.

 

I get tree service wood at home. To them anything under 12-16" is brush. Suits me fine.

At our camp I'll cut it to 3-4" or so. Whats left becomes brush/bonfire material, so it all gets used.

 

I keep anything 2" and above. My stove can run decent on small wood.